Nearly five and a half million people have died in the 10 years since the beginning of the civil war in Congo, according to a study released by the International Rescue Committee in January. The announcement by the IRC called that number "shocking." The study "found that conflict and humanitarian crisis in Congo have claimed the lives of 5.4 million people since 1998 and continue to leave as many as 45,000 dead each month." That is up to 1,500 people per day, nearly half of them children. 

In an article published in Newsweek's online international edition on Jan. 22, Dr. Richard Brennan, the head of global health programs for the IRC, said the continuing mortality rate in such a large country (the DRC is approximately the size of the U.S. east of the Mississippi) "ratchets up the numbers to an astounding level." Many of the deaths are from starvation and disease left in the wake of the violence. "You don't have to have people shooting or dropping bombs," Brennan said. "The level of insecurity is still resulting in the complete disruption of services," including the health care system.

Noting that "there is no natural constituency for the Congolese in the U.S.," such as a large immigrant community to keep the country before our attention, Dr. Brennan concludes that an underlying question is "what makes us human. What does it say about us if we're, at best, simply ignorant -- or worse, willfully ignorant -- of the deaths of 5.4 million people?" He adds that "the burden of this crisis is on children, who account for 50 percent of the deaths, and only 19 percent of the population."

"The Congo is still enduring a crisis of huge proportions," concluded the IRC in its announcement. "The international engagement has to be sustained and committed for years to come."

Click here to read the entire Newsweek article. There is a good photo essay by the IRC's Peter Biro on the BBC news website. To access the IRC's full report, "Mortality in the Democratic Republic of Congo -- An Ongoing Crisis," click here.